Banks stung their customers with a combined £300m in overdraft fees last year, often for going only a few pounds over their agreed limit, reports The Independent.
To compound matters, lenders are preventing customers from getting rid of the credit facility, according to research by price comparison service uSwitch.
Customers were hit with an average £33 in fees for an average overspend of just £60. For 5 per cent of those affected the fees exceeded £100. The most common reasons people gave for slipping beyond their account limit were paying household bills (24 per cent) and the weekly grocery shop (10 per cent).
In an attempt to recoup the fees, almost half of those charged unauthorised overdraft fees called their bank to complain, with 62 per cent successfully obtaining a refund.